Missing Leaf
by alwaysbroke
Summary: what if naruto left with sasuke at the valley of the end?
1. Chapter 1

this is my second fanfic. so, please excuse the mistakes.

i don't own naruto.

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As the rasengan and the chidori crashed together, so did the two fighters memories. The demonic looking boy eyes began to shut slowly, as the bird looking monsters eyes began to come to the realization of what he was doing. The crashing of the river subsided and the two ended up on the shore. Naruto lay still and quiet upon the ground. The sunlight shinning upon his angelic face. The young boy seemed more asleep than half dead. Sasuke stared down at the young boy's face, and watched the scene before him.

"_Is this what I did?_, he thought himself, _I…I'm so…._, he was cut off by the pain in his shoulder. The pain caused him to fall over leaving him face to face with the damage he had done. _I destroyed him_," he thought. He stood up. He saw that his Konoha forehead protector had fallen from his forehead and lay next to Naruto. He noticed the scratch upon it. "I'm not surprised, he said wearily. Sasuke's mind began to reel into motion. "I can't leave him. The one bond I can't destroy. The one person I can't truly defeat. I can't leave him. He's my best friend. He's my brother…," the shock of the revelation made Sasuke's widen. It was then that he did the unthinkable, he took off Naruto's forehead protector and took a kunai, and scratched through the leaf symbol. "he has made me stronger, and will continue to make me stronger, strong enough to kill Itachi," he said to himself. He laid the somewhat bloodstained forehead protector next to his, and picked the unconscious Naruto up. It was strange how he managed to do it, but he put Naruto on his back and carried him like his older brother once did. He walked towards the forest and vanished out of sight along with his brother.

Kakashi noticed the rain began to get harder the closer he approached the scene. "We're nearly there Kakashi," replied Pakkun as he tried to keep pace with the jounin. The dog and the masked man hopped even faster. The two came to an abrupt stop when they saw the headbands lying on the ground.

"What?" said Kakashi in a confused tone.

Pakkun walked up to the forehead protectors and began to sniff them. "It seems Naruto is injured, and probably unconscious, finished Pakkun before walking away from the items.

"So Sasuke took Naruto? He said to the dog, after he tried to kill him, so strange. Can get a lock on their scents?" said Kakashi.

"Sorry, but no, the rain has washed away most their scent as it is," said Pakkun.

"We need to get back to Konoha immediately," he said in a deceptively calm voice. He bent down and picked up the forehead protectors and dashed off towards Konoha.

Sasuke continued to trudge on in the woods with the smaller boy upon his back. He began to feel Naruto's heartbeat get stronger, and felt the boy stirring.

"Naruto , he said knowing the boy was somewhat awake, I brought you with me. Do you wish for me to leave you in the forest or to continue on?," Sasuke said in his usual deadpanned tone.

"Orochimaru…," Naruto said weakly.

"Don't worry about him, I'll settle that," he said without any doubt. The silence that met Sasuke's ear was answer enough, and he continued to Orichimaru's lair.

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A/N: please review. constructive criticism welcome.

oh, and it was longer on my computer like three pages, sorry it's short.


	2. Chapter 2

sorry for the delay folks.

thanks to all of you guys who reviewed. i really thought that the first chapter wouldn't even get looked at, let alone alerted and reviewed. so right now i'm a happy camper.

alright on with the story.

oh and i don't own naruto.

chapter 2

Kakashi arrived at the gates of Konoha. He walked through the gates and saw that there were Anbu guards present except for the usual guards (can't remember their names at the moment). He walked pass them, and began to make his way towards the Hokage tower.

When he arrived at the door, he clutched the two forehead protectors tightly, and took a deep breath. He entered the room after knocking, and found the Godaime sitting behind her desk with her nose in a medical book.

"Good to see that you've returned Kakashi, did you drop the brats off at the hospital?" She said jokingly grinning from ear to ear. She looked up into Kakashi's visible eye, and knew something was amiss.

"Okay, so Naruto was unable to bring back that Uchiha brat, well I guess I'd better get back to the hospital to see the little nuisance. I'm sure he's probably depressed," she said getting up. The Godaime had been feeling unbelievably lucky ever since she lost the Konoha lottery. Most of the Sasuke retrieval team had returned damaged but not dead, so she had hoped that Naruto would return with Sasuke. She was about to walk pass Kakashi when something shiny caught her eye. Kakashi turned to her and held out the two forehead protectors. Her hazel eyes widened in shock.

"two?" she said as he handed them to her. She held them in her hands and found that they were damp, and that one of them was some what bloody. She ran her finger across the long gash on each band. Kakashi backed up a bit and the look of anger that began to fill her pale features. "what's going on?" she finished. Kakashi made sure to put as much difference between them before he told her the news.

"it's Sasuke, said Kakashi as he backed into the door, from what me and Pakkun's nose detected, Naruto was unconscious when he was taken," Kakashi paused long enough to see the fury in those hazel eyes, and I also believe that it was Sasuke that made the mark on Naruto's headband," he finished in a trained calm tone.

"he took Naruto?, said Tsunade in a breathless tone. It was as if she had been hit in the gut. She stood there for awhile trying to find meaning to the situation. The tears began to make their way down her cheeks. Kakashi took the time to look away. He felt that it was disrespectful to impede on the hokage's moment of weakness. But why?" she finally spoke.

"I don't know why, but I'm sure it was him and not Akatsuki, said Kakashi.

The Godaime stood there staring down at the floor, " So he kidnapped Naruto," she said as she began to compose herself. She slammed her fist into the wall. "he'd better make sure that he keeps Naruto alive, or he'd regret it." she finished.

"_I knew it was a good idea to back up," _Kakashi thought.

"Jiraiya!!" shouted Tsunade at the top of her lungs.

A moment later the sannin arrived in a puff of smoke in her office.

"you called" said Jiraiya as he cleaned out of his ears. The man looked around and saw a crack in the wall. "so.. What did Naruto do now?" said Jiraiya knowing it had something to with him.

"that Uchiha brat took off for Orochimaru-"

"well we already saw that coming. His lust for revenge pretty much outweighed everything else," said the sannin taking a seat in the middle of the room, "but that couldn't be what you called me for," he finished turning his full attention to his ex-teammate.

"you idiot. If you would let me finish, then you wouldn't feel the need to joke," she said clenching her teeth, Sasuke has taken Naruto with him, "she finished.

Jiraiya looked to Kakashi, and then back to Tsunade.

"are you sure?," he said.

"Jiraiya-sama," said Kakashi.

"well I wouldn't be worried about the Uchiha kid doing anything to him," said Jiraiya.

A look of relief seem to wash over her and Kakashi's face.

"Orochimaru is the real problem, I wonder what he will do when Sasuke arrives with Naruto," Jiraiya finished as he got up. The look of relief was now replaced with fear.

"well I guess I better get going, said Jiraiya before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"he's going to look for Naruto. I'll have the Anbu back him up," she said returning to her desk, and Kakashi." she said looking at the Jounin.

"yes Hokage," said Kakashi standing at attention.

"you still have that mission to complete," said the Hokage holding up a folder.

"yes Hokage-sama" said Kakashi remembering the mission he walked out on.

It had been two days since everyone found out about Naruto being taken by Sasuke. Everyone was, to say the least, shocked. It even earned a shocked expression from the otherwise lazy Shikamaru. Sakura Haruno was still dealing with the loss of one team mate when she was confronted with the loss of another. She had grown quite fond of the blonde idiot during their time together, and now that she was faced with loss of him. She found that it stung. She know stood on a bridged that overlooked the canal that ran through the village.

"I'm not surprised that he took Naruto with him, she thought as she looked down at her watery reflection, despite the fact that he was always glaring at Naruto or arguing with him, they still had a bond, unlike with me," sakura continued her depressing thoughts as the tears made their way down her cheeks. Her mind began to wander back to the last time she saw Sasuke.

" _thank you sakura, for everything,"_

Then her mind flashed forward to the last time she saw Naruto.

"_I'll bring Sasuke back, that's the promise of a lifetime!"_

"No Naruto," she said to herself. Sakura wiped away the tears, and stood up. "I'll bring him back," she looked up at the sky, "I'll bring the both of you back….that's a promise… of a lifetime" she finished before walking away from the bridge.

"is it true Iruka-sensei? Said konohamaru.

The dark-haired goggle clad boy stood in front of a chunnin clad man. The man known as Iruka was staring straight ahead. He had a feeling that if he looked the young boy in the eye….he might just break down.

"yes, it is true," he said continuing to look ahead, "but I'm sure that he will be back," Iruka said trying to reassure the little boy as well as himself.

"oh of course boss'll be back, said konohamaru looking up at his teacher as he scratched the back of his head, he's going to be the next Hokage," he said with a wide grin. Iruka snapped his attention to the young boy, and was greeted with a wide grin. For a moment Iruka thought he was looking at Naruto, and soon he found himself smiling.

"yes…the next Hokage," Iruka thought to himself.

The hospital room seemed rather dark. Not from the lack of light, but from the lack of someone's presence. Rock lee, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji stood around the bed of a recovering Neji.

" how long have I been out?" said Neji in his usual smooth authoritative

"about 1 week," said rock lee in a depressed tone.

Neji looked at his green clad teammate, and noted the less than enthusiastic reply.

"what happened with the mission?" said Neji looking at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru flinched at the way boy's pale eyes seemed to bore into him.

"it was a failure," said Shikamaru placing his hands inside his pockets.

"so, Naruto was unable to bring the Uchiha back," Neji said as he looked down at his hands, "he must be depressed. I was sure that Naruto would be able to save him from the darkness," Neji stopped speaking when he heard the sound of Chouji eating loudly. He didn't know much about the boy, but he had figured out his eating habits. He knew it was for the purpose of his jutsu, but the way the boy kept shoveling the chips in his mouth, he knew he was eating out of nervousness or stress. "is Naruto okay?" he said feeling he was missing something important.

"he's gone" said Kiba, and Akamaru whimpered in reply.

"what do you mean he's gone," Neji said staring down Kiba.

"Sasuke took him," said Shikamaru gaining the everyone's attention, "no one knows why he took him, and everyone's afraid of what Sasuke plans on doing to him. Shikamaru looked down at his feet in thought.

"I never really liked Uchiha. I always thought he was a stuck-up, arrogant prick. But as for Naruto, he's a loser like me, and I consider him one of my friends," Shikamaru looked up with determination in his eyes, "I won't let that snake and his pet do anything to him," he stated harshly. "It may take awhile, but I will bring him back," Shikamaru finished glaring at the wall behind Neji.

"not by yourself you won't, said Kiba, "I still owe that idiot for the chunnin exams," said Kiba, and Akamaru barked happily in reply.

"he is after all our precious person," said rock lee in his over enthusiastic manner. A small smile appeared on Neji's face.

"I guess we all have a goal now…to get stronger to bring back Naruto," said Kiba.

Chouji chomped in agreement as they all smiled. Unbeknownst to group there was an eavesdropper just outside the door. The dark haired girl with the pale eyes stared at the door.

"as will I," Hinata said to herself before knocking on the door to enter her cousins room.

The hallway was dark with the exception of flickering candles. The procession of 4 made their way through the darkness. Orochimaru was at the head while Kabuto followed him. At the back were two young boys walking side by side.

" I want it now," said Sasuke in a deadpanned tone," where is this power you promised me," he finished. The young boy's dark eyes were boring a hole in the back of the Sannin's head.  
"you will get it soon," was the snake looking man's reply.

Naruto watched Sasuke out of the corner of his eye. He didn't like the situation, to say the least. Naruto was stuck with two people who had tried to kill him. One nearly doing so, while the other attempt was stopped by granny Tsunade taking the hit in her chest. But if it was the only way to get his friend to comeback, then…so be it. When they arrived at Orochimaru's lair, Naruto thought for sure that he'd have to use what little strength left to escape, but the look that Sasuke gave Orochimaru made the Sannin hold his tongue, and he knew from that moment that nothing bad would happen to him, at least not then. The Sannin made the both of them change into a pair of black pants and purple kimonos with those big purple ribbons in the back. He made the boy's get rid of their clothes, and burn them. Naruto sorely missed his orange, and he now had to deal with the purple snakes' fashion. It was like his identity was taken away from him. Now two weeks later the two were following the men Naruto despised the most.

"I want it now," Sasuke said this time his sharingan activated.

It was Kabuto who spoke this time. The two boys came to a stop.

" I wouldn't talk to lord Orochimaru like that if I were you …even if you are to become his container in the near future, he will punish..," the bespectacled man sopped talking when he felt killer intent so strong that he had to keep his teeth clenched from fear of biting off his own tongue.

Naruto stood there seemingly unaffected by the situation, while in the forefront Orochimaru had a sick hungry smile on his face.

"_I can't wait until all of this strength is mine, _Orochimaru thought, "_that boy will be the perfect container,"_ Orochimaru turned around towards the boy.

"we need to go," said Orochimaru to the Uchiha.

Sasuke wouldn't pull back the intent. Naruto placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"we need to go Sasuke," said Naruto with his trademark smile. Sasuke pulled back the intent and then to Naruto.

"what ever …dobe," Sasuke said before he began to walk again.

"teme," hissed Naruto as he caught up with Sasuke. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at the blonde.

"_he could he real problem for me,"_ Orochimaru thought before continuing to walk again.

Somewhere in a dark cave, there stood 8 figures. All of them were holograms. All of the men wore dark cloaks with red clouds on them.

"it looks like Orochimaru has the sharingan," said one member.

"as well as the jinchuuriki," stated another member.

" good," said a shark looking man, "that means we can kill Orochimaru, as well as take the jinchuuriki," he finished.

"yes," spoke a man who seemed to be the leader, "it will make it easier for us, but our preparations to take the kyuubi will not be ready for another 2 years. So for now, we will allow Orochimaru to live at least until we are ready to take the boy," said the leader.

It looks like we will meet up with that brother of yours again," said kisame with a feral smile upon his shark like face while Itachi kept the same unreadable look.

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A/N: I know it was alot of jumping around, but it was the best way (in opinion) to get most of the characters ideas about the situation, amd i am trying to work on my segue, sorry if the chapter sucked. please reveiw and thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

you know when i type this on my computer, it looks all nice and spaced, but then i put on this site, it becomes all scrunched up. what a mess.

i think i'd better for warn some of you readers. this is not sasu/naru or naru/sasu.

there i said it.

disclaimer: i don't own naruto. if i did it would be poorly written.

Chapter three

The isolation was getting to Naruto Uzumaki.

The blonde's head hung low over the candlelit table. His sky blue eyes were focused on the scroll in front of him. He looked up from the scroll, and sighed in boredom. It had been a little over a year and a half since they arrived at the Sannin's place. It was agreed upon that while Sasuke trained to kill his brother (and become Orochimaru's new body) that Naruto would be kept in his room, locked up so that Orochimaru wouldn't have to worry if the boy would try to kill him. Naruto ran a hand through his slightly longer shaggy blonde hair before going back to reading, his attention was interrupted by the sound of someone entering his room. Naruto looked to the door to see none other than the stoic Sasuke.

"allergic to knocking, teme," said Naruto in mock annoyance.

Sasuke just entered the room, and closed the door behind him. He turned around to Naruto and fixed him with a stare.

"okay.." said Naruto getting up, "what do you want?" he finished.

"I need to speak to him," said Sasuke edging closer to the blonde.

Naruto went back to his chair.

"why?" said Naruto already knowing who it was. It was maybe 6 months ago that the snake let it slip about Naruto's tenant to the Uchiha. Sasuke just stood there for a moment.

"can you not call upon that power on your own?" said Sasuke unemotionally.

Naruto, letting his anger get the better of him, shot out of his chair in frustration. "_First the bastard just barges in, and then he demands to speak to the fox. He's got some nerve." _he thought angrily. "you haven't told me why you need to speak to kyuubi," Naruto said through gritted teeth.

It was so fast that Naruto hadn't registered the cold steel of the katana against his neck, until he felt it began to bite into his skin. Sasuke noticed the look of fear and anger in Naruto's eyes. In about a second, Sasuke noticed Naruto's irises become slitted, and the blue became red. Sasuke activated his sharingan, and it began to spin wildly.

Naruto found himself standing in the sewer that was his mind.

"what?" he said looking up to find he was standing in front of the foxes cage. Red chakra was leaking from the cage.

"but how?" Naruto said a little loss.

" I haven't heard from you in a while," said the fox from behind the cage, his deep voice bouncing off the walls

"I had a feeling that would work," said Sasuke appearing besides him.

At the sight of the Uchiha, the fox's chakra began to form outside of the cage. The chakra took on the look of the fox. Naruto backed up a bit in fear. Sasuke's eye flashed red at the fox.

"those eyes," the fox spoke staring down Sasuke, " that chakra, even more sinister than my own," said the kyuubi as he fixed his eyes on the Uchiha.

"so…you have seen these eyes before," said Sasuke as he closed the distance between him and the fox, "who was it?" said Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes began to stare down the fox, the three tomoe began to spin causing the fox to flinch. The fox relented.

"madara Uchiha," said the fox after a moment.

Sasuke turned away from the fox, and began to exit Naruto's mind when the fox spoke.

"I am glad to see you haven't killed Naruto," the fox paused, "but I wonder, why did you really bring…" the fox's voice began to fade away.

Sasuke removed the katana from Naruto's throat before he fell down from exhaustion. Sasuke replaced the katana in its sheath before bending down to drag his friend to his bed. He laid the blonde down as Naruto continued to glare at him.

"I'll tell you later'" said Sasuke before standing up, "for now you will need to rest," Sasuke finished before leaving the room.

It had been 2 weeks since the incident with Sasuke and the fox. Naruto found himself more alone than in the beginning, and it annoyed him. And what made his situation worse were the constant visits ( unwanted by the way) from the snake, and his visually impaired sidekick. It seems the two found a loophole to Sasuke's threat.

"there are more ways to hurt someone than by physical means," the sannin said one day on one of his little visits.

Naruto put away the latest scroll.

" well at least Iruka sensei would be proud," he said aloud, "I'm finally using this thing between my shoulders," he finished with a sad smile. It was then he heard the door creak open. Naruto turned to see none other than Kabuto entering his room.

"oh fantastic," he said mentally, " just the pick me up I need," he thought sarcastically. The nin walked over to the desk, and took a look at the previous scroll.

"sealing ?" said Kabuto.

Naruto gave the man a glare as he awaited his response.

"do you think it wise for you to be reading these.. Naruto-kun," Kabuto said teasingly.

The teenager turned his attention from the gray haired male, and focused his attention on the wall.

"you know," said Kabuto before he leaned down into Naruto's ear, "you might just let it lose." Kabuto finished.

Naruto made to push the nin away, but Kabuto jumped back towards the door.

"Kabuto you're so obvious that even I can see what you're doing," said Naruto his blue eyes flashing.

"and what dear Naruto-kun would that be?" Said Kabuto teasingly from the door.

"get out," Naruto growled out angrily.

Kabuto laughed as he closed the door leaving a very pissed off and fuming Naruto behind.

"I can take this," Naruto said while pacing his bedroom floor, "it's no different from what the villager's did to me," he spoke to himself. It was after another run in with Kabuto that brought about his pacing. It was no different from before . The nin would impede on Naruto's privacy, and began his daily taunting, but for some reason today it was different. Naruto sat on the edge of his bed and placed his head in his hands replaying the scene in his head.

_"you know you're living on borrowed time," Kabuto said in the middle of his usual teasing._Naruto's head snapped up from his hands. "I won't let it happen," he said to himself, " I won't let them break me," he said. Naruto wrapped his arms around himself, and began to rock himself back and forth. "I won't let them break me…."; he continued in the darkening room.

_Naruto seemingly ignoring the man, finally began to pay attention. Noticing this Kabuto continued._

_"as soon as Orochimaru-sama takes over dear Sasuke's body," Kabuto paused for effect, "you will be killed," said Kabuto._

_Naruto clenched the edge of the desk as if letting go would cause him to fall off the earth._

_"but it's not as if anyone would care, Konoha hasn't even sent anyone out looking for you," said Kabuto staring down at the boy's knuckles noticing they were turning white. "they're probably celebrating your absence right now as we speak" Kabuto noticed the glassiness of Naruto's eyes. "I guess you will end up dying alone with no one even acknowledging your existence," Kabuto said with a half smirk._

_Naruto knocked over his chair as he ran towards the young man with his fist cocked back. Kabuto's hand glowed blue as he caught Naruto in his stomach. The blonde fell over in pain._

_"you bastard," said Naruto through clenched teeth._

_"don't worry. It's not fatal," said Kabuto walking towards the door leaving Naruto on the floor. "I'm sure that thing will have you healed soon enough," Kabuto finished._

Naruto was awoken by a knock on his bedroom door, he got up out of bed, and made his way to the door. He opened the door to find his brother on the other side.

"I'm surprised you knocked," Naruto said through a yawn, " you usually just walk in," he said letting Sasuke in.

"here," said Sasuke handing him some scrolls.

Naruto's eyes lit up like light bulbs at the sight.

"thank god," said naruto, "I think I've read those at least 10 times already," Naruto grabbed the scrolls, and then turned back to his friend, " so you're not going to have trouble with the snake bastard for giving these to me?" said Naruto.

"do I look like I care what he wants," said Sasuke in his cool tone.

Naruto laughed at his brother's reply.

Sasuke turned and headed to the door. He then turned around, and took one final look at his smiling friend.

"he'll be okay," Sasuke thought, "he's strong," he finished before closing the door.

Kabuto entered lord Orochimaru's bedroom to find the white faced man sitting up in his bed. The candle lit room cast shadows on the gray haired man's face.

"what is it Kabuto?" said Orochimaru.

Kabuto stepped further into the room before closing the door behind him.

"It isn't working," said Kabuto, " but considering who it is, I'm not surprised," Kabuto finished with an amused smile.

"I want to make him my weapon," said Orochimaru, "I want to use the jinchuuriki power. I want to control it, and the only way I can do so is if I have control of the boy," Orochimaru hissed angrily.

Kabuto flinched at the tone of his master's voice.

The sannin calmed down, and stared down the boy in front of him.

"I will take care of this personally," said the sannin with a hungry smile gracing his snake features.

Naruto slammed his fist down on the table.

"god I need to get out of here. Just to run around….. " Naruto stopped mid rant as he heard the door open to his room.

"oh and then there are the unwanted guest," he thought as the purple clad figure entered his room. Naruto looked over to see who his "guest" was. "oh this week just keeps getting better and better," he spoke aloud to the presence of Orochimaru.

Orochimaru paid no attention to the boy's remark as he shut the door behind him. Naruto, noticing the man closing the door, quickly jumped up from his seat.

"what do you want?" said naruto as he glared at the man.

Orochimaru looked into the boy's eyes with mild aggravation.

"when I see your face, I'm reminded of that man who stole my destiny," said Orochimaru from the door.

"who do you mean?" said naruto before catching on, " the Yondaime?" said naruto.

"yes, the Yondaime," the snake nin began to approach him, and naruto began to back up.

"haven't you ever wondered why the Yondaime chose you?" said Orochimaru.

Naruto backed into the edge of the bed causing him to fall upon it. The man's golden eyes held a glint of satisfaction at the look on the boy's face. " I bet the villager's told you that you were just some orphan he chose ," Orochimaru stopped once he noticed he had the boy's undying attention. "the similarities between the two of you are quite interesting. It's almost as if….. You're related," Orochimaru stopped to notice the young boy's eyes were widening in comprehension. Orochimaru turned around to see that the boy was on his way to his breaking point. _"one more push,"_ he thought. "to think I was called a monster, but to put a monster inside one's own child is truly monstrous, " Orochimaru closed the door behind him. As Orochimaru made his way down the dimly lit hallway, a loud cry was heard.

"he's mine," Orochimaru thought as his gold eyes flashed happily.

Sasuke made his way to the training room. It was the only place that was fully lit within the compound. It was a wide room that was lined with weapons and decorated with snake memorabilia. The Uchiha stood in the middle of the room awaiting his sensei's arrival. He heard the door open to reveal the snake nin as well as another person.

"naruto" said Sasuke staring down the boy. Naruto followed behind Orochimaru with a blank look on his face. His usually bright eyes had a dead look. His whole countenance seemed… broken.

"what's going on Orochimaru?" said Sasuke in a deadly tone.

"I didn't touch him as you requested," said Orochimaru knowing his protégé's thoughts. " we've just come to an understanding," he finished as he looked back at his weapon.

Sasuke took one long last look at his friend.

"hn," Sasuke grunted as he walked pass his mentor.

"from now on you and naruto will be training together," Orochimaru said over his shoulder to the Uchiha.

If one looked closely, a small smirk could be seen on the Uchiha's face.

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A/N: I hope that wasn't crappy.


	4. Chapter 4

sorry for the delay folks, but it turns out i'm a slacker...just kidding..sort of.

anyway, i do plan on finishing this story before the end of this year, so don't worry folks, and thanks for the reviews, and 4 more favorites i received it makes feel all fuzzy inside..

disclaimer: i don't own naruto. if i did i would never make the deadlines..seriously.

here's the chapter, hope it doesn't suck too much.

**Chapter four**

"Pervvy sage!!" a young golden haired, tanned skinned boy yelled out as he was running. The boy's whiskered face held a large smile, and his sky-blue eyes held a light. The boy's features changed to that of another blonde, but his hair a little lighter, and his eyes held the same light and sky blue. His whiskerless face held the same big smile.

Jiraiya awoke suddenly from the dream / nightmare. It was a dream because it was a memory of a boy he thought of as a grandson, while the other was like a son. It was a nightmare because he managed to lose the both of them. Jiraiya quickly brushed off the seeping depression, and got out of bed.

Jiraiya poofed into Tsunade's office. He looked around noticing he had interrupted something important. He walked to the back wall of the mission room, and leaned lazily against the wall. Jiraiya noticed the growing tick on the blonde leader's forehead. Her hazel eyes glared at the young boy on ebisu's genin team. Konohamaru sat defiantly on the floor with his arms crossed , and his face screwed up into a pout. Iruka stared down at the young boy angrily as well.

"konohamaru you are still a genin. So, being a genin means you must do d- missions," said Iruka through gritted teeth, "there are no exceptions, so stopping acting immature," he finished.

Jiraiya watched as the boy turned his attention to the brown haired chunnin, and began to complain about how doing all of these stupid d-missions were making him dumber and dumber by the minute. He then watched as ebisu tried to explain the situation, but the kid wouldn't budge. His teammates watched as their teammate began his rant anew. It must have been an everyday occurrence because his teammates didn't seem too surprised.

"besides I'm going to be the shichidaime," the boy uncrossed his arms and stuck his chest out proudly, "how can I draw out my true power on such lame missions." the dark haired genin finished.

Everyone in the room, Jiraiya included, was confused.

"seventh Hokage?" said Tsunade her hazel eyes staring down the 11 year old, " what about the sixth?" she finished.

"that's for naruto," the young boy shouted happily.

Tsunade's eyes widened as she grabbed onto the desk. She was desperately trying to swallow the lump in her throat. Iruka noticed the depressed look on her face and turned his brown eyes towards the smiling child before allowing a smile to grace his features before dismissing the team. Tsunade came back to herself when the door closed behind the genin team. She looked to the side of her and noticed the sad the smile that was on the chunnin's face.

"Iruka," she said..

"yes Hokage-sama," he said quickly.

"you may take the rest of the day off," she said kindly.

"I… It's alright, I'm fine," said Iruka with a forced smile.

"it's okay. None of us are really over it," she said looking to Jiraiya who was looking quite pale and upset.

Iruka looked to the sannin as well, and felt that the may need to talk alone.

"I think I will take you up on your offer, thank you." he said before bowing and leaving the room.

"nothing like a nice shock in the morning to wake you up," she said with a bitter smile. Jiraiya snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of his old teammate's voice. The sannin shook off the depressing thoughts, and walked towards the mission table.

"we need to talk in private," he said leaning on the table.

Tsunade stood up and they made their way to her office. He took a seat in front of her desk. Tsunade did a couple of hand signs making the room sound proof.

"I have news from one of my spies," said Jiraiya.

"yes," said Tsunade placing her hands in the desk in front of her mouth.

"Akatsuki is on the move again, but it seems they may have competition," said Jiraiya.

"what do you mean competition," said Tsunade.

"someone else has been searching for the tailed beast," said Jiraiya.

" do know why?" said Tsunade agitated with the long silence.

"that I'm still working on," he said quickly.

Tsunade looked down for a moment. Her head jerked up suddenly, her hazel eyes wide with realization.

"do you think they will go after naruto?" said Tsunade upset.

Jiraiya, a man who never liked to sugar coat things answered bluntly, " more than likely yes, but there is one thing we can count on is that Orochimaru will not hand him over. He doesn't want Akatsuki to get all of the tailed beast, and I'm sure he doesn't want someone to gain more power than him," said Jiraiya.

Tsunade let out the breathe she'd been holding.

"have you already notified suna's security of this situation?" She said in hokage mode.

"of course," said Jiraiya, "you just leave it to daddy," he said haughtily.

The tick on Tsunade's forehead was slowly re-growing, as her left eye began to twitch. Jiraiya laughed at the sight making the tick larger. He was cut off by the sight of one of his amphibians. Noticing the lack of laughter at her expense, she followed the sage's eye line to the window. Tsunade removed the seal placed on the room and walked over to the window letting the yellowish-green frog in. The frog hopped into the room and landed in front of the sage. Jiraiya took the scroll from the back of the frog, and began to read it. With each passing sentence, Tsunade saw his eyes become alarmed. He handed the scroll over to Tsunade who in turn become alarmed.

"but how were they able to?" she said still staring at the scroll..

"well from what I understand," said Jiraiya, "the Akatsuki attacked during the night 2 days ago," he paused for a moment, "I guess you should be receiving a.."

"hokage-sama it's urgent news from suna!!" said a dark haired woman entering the office frantically.

"guess it's here," said Jiraiya as he stood up to disappear in a whirl of leaves.

"does this have anything to do with suna?" she said as the young woman tried to catch her breath.

"yes hokage-sama," said the woman standing up straight.

"I am already aware of the situation. Send them a message telling them that a team will be arriving to help them," said Tsunade.

"yes hokage-sama ," said the woman before racing out of the office.

Sakura entered the office with her sensei, Kakashi, as well as their new member sai (a dark haired, pale -skinned boy who eerily resembled Sasuke) who stood silently beside sakura. Tsunade stood in front of team Kakashi, and began to give out orders.

"your main mission is to help suna with anything they need regarding the retrieval of the kazekage," said Tsunade.

"yes hokage-sama," they all said in unison.

"your mission begins as soon as you are done packing. You are dismissed," Tsunade finished.

The three departed quickly from the office.

Sakura took one final look at the old picture of team 7.

"I'm nearly strong enough to bring the both of you back," she said to the picture before she left the bedroom.

She met with her sensei and sai at the front gate. The 3 of them set off in silence until they came upon a blonde kunoichi with a large fan on her back. The 3 of them jumped down from the tree tops to tell the woman the distressing news. After the blonde regained control of her emotions, the 4 of them set off to suna.

The 4 of them made camp in a cave to ride out the sandstorm. 16 year old sakura waited patiently until her teammate and temari fell asleep. She walked over to Kakashi who sat just inside the cave's entrance watching the sandstorm, and took a seat by him. They set in silence before sakura finally spoke up.

"Kakashi-sensei," she began nervously, "I've been doing some reading," she paused to look at her sensei. She saw that he kept his blank expression, "I know about naruto . I mean I know that naruto is a jinchuuriki." she said quickly noticing her teacher flinch. Kakashi turned and looked at her.

"and what do you think of him?" said Kakashi.

"he's a lot stronger than I thought. To be able to hold the fox within him, as well as take the villager's criticism with a smile …that is why I will do whatever I can to make sure that gaara is brought back alive, and well it's what naruto would have wanted." she finished as the sandstorm began to slow down.

"well," began Kakashi, " it's good to see that you've finally grown up sakura," he said his smile hidden behind his mask.

"thank you sensei," she said happily.

After the sandstorm faded into nothingness, the team managed to arrive 2 days later in suna. The 4 were greeted by two suna guards who quickly led the team to the infirmary where kankuro lay dying. Upon seeing the young man without his usual war paint on, and sweating profusely, sakura went into medic mode giving out orders to the other medic nins that surrounded her. Kakashi watched sakura, and began to wonder, _'would they be proud of her?'_

After hours of removing the poison from the young Jounin's body, he awoke to find his sister, and Konoha nins surrounding his hospital bed.

Kakashi motioned for Baki to follow him into the hall. The two made their way into the hallway.

"I would like to begin tracking the assailants, but unfortunately I don't have anything to track them with. So, we'll be starting from scratch," Kakashi said thoughtfully. Kankuro called for the two Jounin to come to him. He asked for his puppet and showed the men the piece of mask he'd retrieved form the Akatsuki puppeteer. Kakashi praised the young man as he took the piece of cloth. He then walked back out into the corridor and summoned his ninja dogs. Pakkun with the other hounds took a sniff of the cloth and set off after the scent.

"as soon as they find the scent, we will be on our way," said Kakashi.

"we have set up rooms for all of you for the night,' said Baki.

"thank you," said Kakashi bowing before he gathered the rest of his team.

"no.. we thank you," said baki to the retreating back of the Konoha nins.

It was the next day that sai awoke to find Kakashi talking with the small bulldog known to be Pakkun.

"something strange was going on there when I arrived kakashi, and there was also a scent .. It seemed familiar." said Pakkun.

"really," said Kakashi breaking from his thoughts, "I wonder," he thought before looking over to find sai awake.

"get dressed quickly sai," Kakashi said as he got up from his bed, " we are leaving immediately," he said leaving the young boy some what surprised.

"Pakkun," said Kakashi as he looked down at the dog.

"I'm on it Kakashi," said Pakkun before taking off.

The group stood in front of the kazekage tower watching the nin-dog take off at an incredible speed. The team was about to take off when they saw Temari approaching them and saying that she would be accompanying them. The 4 were about to take off until the council members stopped her from her leaving. As the blonde kunoichi shouted at the council about the new development, an elderly lady dressed in all black jumped down from the building and landed in front of the group.

"looks like I'll be going," she said with a cheeky smile.

The now four man cell, of course chiyo came along to see her cute grandson, made their way towards river country. The 4 traveled in silence until they arrived at the clearing. What met their eyes shocked all 4 of them. The kazekage sat propped up against a tree. His green eyes were some what opened, and his red hair was disheveled.

"sakura, chiyo-sama," said Kakashi snapping out of his shock, "please check on gaara-sama," he finished.

The two women walked over to him. Chiyo knelt down besides him, and began focusing her chakra into him. Her tired eyes widened in shock after a moment.

"but how is this possible," she said to the red-head, " you should be dead or dying," she finished.

"what is going on?" said sakura.

"he's gone," said gaara weakly.

"who's gone," said sai feeling a little felt out.

"shukaku," stated gaara, "the Akatsuki have him now," he said.

"is he going to be alright?" said Kakashi stepping forward.

"yes. He's just exhausted," chiyo said with a strange look.

"good. Kazekage-sama we need to know what happened," Kakashi said standing on the other side of elder chiyo.

"of course," began gaara, " but it will not make much sense seeing how I was unconscious for most of it," gaara said as he took the soldier pill from sakura. Gaara sat for awhile trying to gather his thoughts as well as allow the soldier pill to take it's affect, after a moment he turned his turquoise eyes towards Kakashi.

"after we left the village, we arrived here. I was still exhausted from our battle before so I couldn't fight back. It was then I found myself in that cave," he said pointing just over the river where the ruins lay. "after all of their members showed up, they began the ceremony," gaara paused as a pained look settled into his eyes, "it felt like they were trying to rip out my soul. It kept up until they were able to remove him. I then felt as if I were leaving this world. My heart felt like it was trying to shut down. As I began to slip, it was then I heard the noise of a battle going on, but before I slipped into unconsciousness,….I know I saw yellow flashes."

A/N: thanks for reading.

oh and this may seem random, but i always wondered what would happen if naruto did the sexy jutsu on orochimaru.

would it be a). he dies from massive bloodloss

b). nothing

c). he'd want naruto to teach him said jutsu


	5. Chapter 5

for those of you who reviewed (all 7 thank you so much), the answer was actually letter b, at least according to my 12 year old brother.

any who, sorry for the delay, and thanks for the 13 favorites and like 12 alerts, boy do i feel special.

so on to the story.

i don't own naruto. so, yeah.

warning: possible grammatical errors typed all of this in one afternoon and quickly uploaded it.

Chapter five

"What do you mean… yellow flashes?" said kakashi quizzically.

"Like a yellow light," said gaara from the ground, " as I said before." Said gaara from his spot perched against the tree. The medic Nins continued to look him over as he began to get lost in thought. ' It seems that once again, I am indebted to you…' he was cut off from his thoughts by the arrival of another team. Gaara looked over and saw 4 people: one he immediately recognized as rock lee, a Nin he fought in his first chunnin exams. The boy's sense of fashion hadn't changed much in the last 2 years. He still wore the same green spandex outfit, dark bushy eyebrows, and bowl shaped haircut. In other words, he still emulated his sensei, which happened to be standing next to him with a bright grin on his face, the only difference in his appearance was the chunnin vest. Next was a guy with long dark hair and strange violet colored eyes. The Jounin wore what appeared to be a long loose fitting jump suit with a gray skirt like material. Next to him, was a Chinese looking girl with two dark buns that were on each side of her head. She wore a red mandarin collared top with dark blue shinobi pants. The 4 of them looked around in confusion.

"As youthful as ever Kakashi," said Gai in his nice guy pose, "I see you and your team managed to retrieve the kazekage as well as scare off the bad guys," he finished his teeth glinting in the sunlight.

"I'm afraid you are mistaken Gai," said Kakashi.

"What ?" said Gai dropping his pose.

Kakashi turned his attention to Gai's group. The two chunnins and two jounins looked at him in confusion.

"Then Kakashi-sensei, if not you, then who?" said Rock lee his bushy brows furrowing in concentration.

"That I do not know, but I have a suspicion," Kakashi said before giving his attention to the stoic dark haired male, "Neji, I need you to focus your eyes on that area," said Kakashi pointing towards what was once a cavern.

"Understood," said Neji, "Byakugan," he said as his violet eyes became white, and veins began to show on each side of his face. The young man's eyes searched the appointed area while the others waited.

"So, has there been any news about Naruto?" said Gaara. Neji kept his attention on his task while the others looked down at Gaara.

"Afraid not," said Kakashi closing his eye in frustration, " anytime we have a lead, the trail runs cold," kakashi finished as he reopened his eye, and looked towards the destroyed mountainside.

"I'm sure it was him," Gaara simply replied.

"I found something Kakashi- sempai," said Neji, "there is a faint chakra signature over there," Neji finished as he pointed in the direction.

"Chiyo-sama, please wait here," said Kakashi.

"No, it may be my cute grandson," the elderly medic Nin said determinedly.

Noticing the look in the woman's eyes, Kakashi turned and followed Neji to the signature. When they arrived to the rubble, the group of ninja's encircled the area where a red haired man lay. Well at least what appeared to be a man. The puppet's eyes roamed over the group before his eyes stopped on Chiyo. A strange smile crossed the puppet's features.

"And here I thought that I would be able to battle you…obaasan," the puppet spoke.

"Sasori," spoke Chiyo, "what happened, who did this?" she said urgently.

"He was quite angry…that jinchuuriki," said sasori with a strange smile before his eyes slowly slid closed for the last time.

The group stood in shock, all those except for Kakashi who was looking back at Gaara.

'So… it was Naruto,' Kakashi thought.

"we need to head back to Konoha immediately," said Kakashi gathering everyone's attention. They all returned to Gaara, and their way back to Suna.

Three days of non-stop running would have left any ninja over worked and exhausted. So, kakashi allowed his team to go home and rest while he went to the Hokage's office. Kakashi rushed to Tsunade's office and entered without knocking. The blonde haired woman (who was looking at the newspaper to see if she won the Konoha lottery) looked on surprised for a moment until her anger got the better of her.

"kakashi what is the meaning of this?" she said slamming the paper on to her desk.

"it concerns naruto, and our latest mission," said kakashi quickly.

Tsunade immediately calmed down, "really?" she said in a breathless tone.

"yes," kakashi said.

"well then…begin," Tsunade said after gathering her composure.

Kakashi began telling her of their run in with Gaara, the sand jinchuuriki memories as well as sasori's last words.

"So, the kazekage believes it was Naruto who saved him?" said Tsunade.

"yes lady Hokage, and it was confirmed by the Akatsuki member sasori of the red sands," said kakashi.

"and you believe Pakkun may have arrived during the initial fight?" said Tsunade.

"yes," answered kakashi.

"what are thoughts on this kakashi, do you really believe that naruto was there?" said Tsunade guardedly.

"I believe it was him, at least the naruto that I know would do something like this," said kakashi as his eye began to droop from exhaustion.

"even if it was naruto, how will we find him?" she said in a frustrated tone.

"I had Pakkun as well as some of my other Nin hounds track down the scent, and I have faith that he will find it," said kakashi tiredly but determined.

Tsunade looked the man over, "alright kakashi we will began the mission to find naruto and the Uchiha, but after you go home and rest." She said with a smirk noticing that the man's legs were wobbling.

It was 2 days later when team kakashi found themselves yet again standing in front of the hokage.

"as you all are aware of, we have found a credible lead on Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke's whereabouts," sakura's eyes widened at the information while her teammates kept their faces emotionless. "well," Tsunade continued, " I believe a four team cell for this mission will be sufficient enough," said Tsunade.

"four man?" Sai spoke.

Everyone looked at sai in surprise before returning their attention back to Tsunade.

"yes," she said, "you may enter!!" she shouted.

A tall dark haired male dressed in the Jounin's uniform with dark almond shaped eyes and grin on his face entered the room.

"this is Yamato, he will be rounding out your team until further notice," she said as she looked at Sai.

"hello," the man said before joining up with the team.

"Kakashi will brief you on the mission," she said turning her attention to Yamato., "you are dismissed," she said while trying to keep the glee out of her voice.

_'please bring him back,'_ she thought as she watched the team leave her office.

It was two hours later when the four Nins met in front of Konoha gates.

Sakura, and their newest teammate Yamato listened intently to Kakashi's information while sai's thoughts began to stray to the two people they were going to. rescue? from what sai could gather the Uchiha was quiet and stoic to the point of being cold to everyone. Some people thought the boy was following the way of the shinobi. While other's believed it was a product from the loss of his clan. The Uchiha was rather popular in the village unlike the other missing boy. The only time the Uchiha would show emotion was when anyone mentioned the name of the man who murdered his family, who happened to be his brother, and his teammate Uzumaki. Sai had heard different accounts of the boy. Some of the villagers said the boy was a troublemaking prankster. While his fellow ninja and the Ichiraku owner said the boy was friendly always wearing a grin, and would protect anyone with his life. His loud wardrobe represented his personality. As far as sai was concerned, the Uchiha left of his own accord making him a traitor, but the other, Uzumaki, was kidnapped, and he was the only one that really needed to be rescued.

"So does everyone understand the mission?" said Kakashi.

"yes," all three answered.

It was 7 hours later when the group stopped to rest. A fire was set up while Yamato began setting up what appeared to be a lodge. Sakura stood in awe of their lodgings for the night. They all entered and began setting up their sleeping bags.

It was 2 hours later that sakura found herself awake. She looked to the corner of the room, and noticed that sai was awake. The man seemed to be drawing something in a small notebook. Sakura got up, making sure not to wake anyone else, and tiptoed towards the young man. She took a seat next to him, and looked over his shoulder. She noticed the boy sketching what looked to be a tree.

"wow sai," she whispered loudly, "that really good," she finished with a wide smile.

Sai turned to her with one of his fake smiles. "thank you sakura," he said before turning back to his sketchbook.

The two sat in silence for while sai continued to sketch. Sai finished the sketch, he closed the book, and turned his attention to pink haired kunoichi. The fake smile dropped from sai's face leaving him with a thoughtful look. Sakura noticing this spoke,

"so..what do you want to know?" she said as kindly as possible.

"I would like to know about your ex-teammates," he said as the fake smile made its way back on his face.

The next morning, the four-man cell made it to the heaven and earth bridge. Kakashi saw his ninja hounds, and immediately made his way to them.

"follow me, we aren't to far from his hideout," said Pakkun gruffly before taking off. The group took off after him.

When the team arrived, they found themselves standing in what appeared to be a grassy field that was bordered by several cliffs.

"where is the entrance?" said sakura.

"underground," answered Pakkun as he made his way to a certain spot, "here would be a good place to go through," Pakkun said, "goodbye," he finished before disappearing.

Kakashi studied the ground for a moment then turned his attention to his fellow Jounin.

"Yamato, this is your area of expertise," kakashi said staring at the man.

"yes sempai," Yamato answered with a smile.

Yamato did a couple of hand signs, which caused the ground to open up before them.

"everyone make sure to stick together, and keep on guard," said kakashi.

Everyone nodded in agreement before they made their way down the earthen steps. When the group got further down, they were met with a wall. Yamato used his wood jutsu to drill a hole through the wall. The wall began to crack as the wood bore deeper. After it was completed, the group climbed through the hole. They all took a left, and made their way down the desolate, and dimly lit hall. The group came to a fork in the road. The hall split in 4 paths (not counting the one they just came from).

"it looks like we split up," said kakashi, "everyone make sure you have your earpiece in." everyone placed their earpieces in and split up.

When sai was sure he was far away from the others, he pulled out a scroll, a paintbrush, and quickly painted 12 snakes. The snakes all began checking the rooms. It was as if a signal was sent off because 3 minutes later the inky snakes began to converge into one room. Sai began to follow the hoard of snakes to the room. When sai arrived, he tried to open the door, but found that it was locked. He quickly painted a key, and used it to unlock the door. He entered the room slowly and looked to the bed where a teenaged boy was asleep.

Sakura found nothing but a dimly lit hallway as she made her way down.

"my god this is so aggravating," she spoke to herself. She stopped when she heard a loud expression. The hall began to shake as the walls ahead of her began to crumble.

Sai stared up at the shadowed figure. The explosion caused the roof to collapse, and the sun shone through making it appear the cave was always present.

"who are you?" spoke the figure.

Sai just stared ahead.

"sai are you alright?" shouted the pink haired girl.

Sai nodded in the affirmative to the girl as he kept his dark eyes on the figure.

"hn," the figure spoke, "sakura?" he continued monotonous.

The pink haired girl turned her full attention to the shadowed figure. The sun broke its way through the clouds causing the figure to be shown. There stood her former crush, the boy she thought she loved with all of her heart.

"Sasuke-kun," she said slowly.

The young man kept an impassive look on his face. The two stared at each other for what seemed like forever, until Sasuke broke the moment by looking away to his left at the empty space. A minute later the space was filled with another figure, with hair the color of the sun, the figure looked down into the cavern. Sakura stood in shock as recognition began to show on her face.

"naruto." She whispered.

* * *

A/N: again sorry for the delay. this chapter took too long, and i just started university, though i'm sureyou can't tell by my writing skills.

another one of my rants: i just saw a jiraiya/naruto pairing. man that's sick. that's like his grandfather/ uncle figure. what strange pairings have you seen?


	6. Chapter 6

Hello folks, and thanks for the reviews. I must've been on the pipe when I thought I would be done by December. Well now that the smoke has cleared, here goes the next chapter. Sorry for the delay, and yes I do have so many good and reasonable excuses, but I talk too much as it is.

Oh and for strangest pairings I've seen they are as follow:

Tsunade/Naruto-eww

Naruto/Konohamaru- isn't he like a brother figure

Naruto/Kin- didn't she die within three episodes

Sasuke/Hinata- I don't get it

Kakashi/Iruka- scratching my head over that one

Shikamaru/Sasuke- I'm not even going to comment over that one

Sasuke/Naruto-?

Warning: poor attempt at describing a fighting scene

_______________________________________________________

Chapter Six

Tsunade flinched visibly at the sight that met her. Six sake bottles lay empty in her desk drawer. She muttered some colorful words as she shut the desk drawer, and turned her attention back to the two elderly people that stood before her. Tsunade placed a strained smile on her deceptively young face, and narrowed her hazel eyes towards them.

"So what brings the two of you here?" she spoke through clenched teeth.

"What else, but the jinchuuriki," said the female Koharu.

"We heard that a team was sent after him and the Uchiha," spoke the male Homura.

"Then please take a seat," said Tsunade motioning to the chairs in front of her. The two village elders sat down. The way the two carried themselves; it was as if they were summoned there. Tsunade kept that that thought to herself as she watched the two of them look down their nose at her.

"Was the information of their whereabouts credible this time?" said Koharu.

"Yes.. It was," said Tsunade.

"Very well then, we have both come to a decision about the two missing ninjas," said Homura.

"Decision?" said Tsunade in a puzzled tone.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Naruto," Sakura said in a breathless tone. The golden haired figure turned his attention to the pink haired girl.

"Sakura," the figure deadpanned.

There was a stare down between the 3 teenagers. The wind blew around them causing Sasuke's jet-black bangs to blow into his pale heart shaped face while the white yukata that he wore exposed more of his chest with the winds movement. The black shinobi pants he wore seemed to be covered by a black skirt that was held up by a purple rope-like obi that kept his sword in place. His dark gray eyes narrowed in the direction of their new arrival. Kakashi and Yamato appeared in the cavern within seconds. Kakashi focused his attention on Sai while Yamato looked towards Sakura.

"Hm," Kakashi said thoughtfully as he examined the area, "did you have anything to do with this Sai," said Kakashi.

Sai didn't glance in Kakashi's direction. He kept his eyes on the two missing Nin's. Noticing this, Kakashi followed the boy's eye line to Sasuke, whom he noticed had grown a bit, and then over to the other boy. He gasped at the sight, Naruto's hair was a lot longer. Nearly to his shoulders his bangs covered most of the sky blue eyes. He stood there reminding him of someone. He could pass for him if it wasn't for the e whisker scars on each cheek, purple tunic and big purple obi that held a sword in place, and white bandages on his right hand.

"Feeling nostalgic, Kakashi," a deep tenor voice rang out over them.

Everyone's eyes snapped to Naruto.

"Do I look like someone you know?" said Naruto in a dead tone.

Kakashi's eye lowered a bit at the statement.

_'So he knows,'_ he thought, _'must have been Orochimaru,'_ he finished.

"Naruto, Sasuke we're here to bring you back," said Sakura.

"Sakura, you are wasting your breathe," said Sasuke, "instead of chasing after us…shouldn't you be training to get stronger? Unless of course you're still that love sick kunoichi that I've always known," Sasuke said with a smirk.

"No," Sakura began, "I am not that girl anymore. If I were, I would only be here for you, not the both of you. I have trained day in and day out just to become stronger, so that I could bring the both of you home, back to Konoha, where you belong," Sakura finished as she gripped her fist with determination.

Kakashi looked over to her and noticed genuine determination in her eyes.

_'She meant every word,'_ he thought.

Naruto looked on in silence as Sakura and Sasuke exchanged words.

"Touching speech Sakura, but I cannot return to Konoha. I have business to take care of," said Sasuke.

"Itachi," said Kakashi.

Sasuke turned red eyes on Kakashi.

"Konoha was holding me back. I was unable to get strong enough to kill my brother. Too many bonds to deal with that blinded me from my original bond of hate," said Sasuke in a somewhat angry voice.

"Yet, you kept one," said Sai from the sidelines.

Sasuke turned his attention to the dark haired Nin, glaring at him.

"Yes Sasuke," said Kakashi, "why did you keep Naruto by your side. Why not leave him, and sever that bond along with the others," said Kakashi thoughtfully.

"I have my reasons," said Sasuke.

"Does it have to do with your brother's eyes?" said Kakashi.

Sasuke narrowed his red eyes in Kakashi's direction.

"Will you truly do anything to defeat your brother?" said Kakashi.

"Yes," spoke Sasuke, " I have said before that I will do anything to get power even if it meant to give my soul to Orochimaru…"

"…. Even killing your best friend," stated Kakashi in a strangely calm tone.

The cavern became eerily quiet, even the wind stopped its movement. Sasuke's red eyes seemed to grow brighter.

"What are you talking about Kakashi-sensei?" said Sakura in a confused tone.

Kakashi kept his dark gray eye trained on Sasuke.

"I know the secret to gaining the Mangekyo-Sharingan Sasuke," Kakashi said in an icy tone. He then turned his eye to Naruto, "Did he tell you Naruto? Do you know the condition for those eyes," Kakashi paused as he lifted the headband from his other eye, "for this," finished kakashi amongst the many gasp.

Naruto looked at the strange pin wheeled shaped black iris amidst the red background of the eye. He continued to stare unblinkingly before he spoke.

"To kill your best friend," said Naruto in an even tone.

Sakura looked back and forth between the two.

"You wouldn't," she whispered.

"Will you let him kill you for his own gain?" said Kakashi.

"Yes," said naruto.

"What?" said Kakashi in disbelief.

"It's obvious the boy has been brainwashed ," said Yamato from beside Kakashi.

"Naruto, you don't mean that," said Sakura her green eyes wide.

"Yes… I do," said Naruto, "Sasuke is the closest that I've ever had to family. Whatever my brother ask of me, I will do it will-"

"Even if it means giving up your life?" said Yamato cutting in.

"Yes," said Naruto acknowledging the unfamiliar man, "I will give my life for my brother, become a weapon for him, if it means him accomplishing his dream to avenge his clan," said Naruto.

"What of Orochimaru?" said Kakashi, "do you seriously believe that after he takes control of Sasuke that he will let you leave? At the least he will turn you into his own personal weapon, If not kill you." Said Kakashi.

Naruto kept his eyes on Kakashi; the dead look stayed in them as spoke, "as long as there is a small part of Sasuke alive than I will gladly become the weapon of Orochimaru. If the possessed body of my brother ask for my death, then I will gladly offer…."

"No!!!" yelled Sakura as she ran at the cliff side the two stood upon. Her chakra covered fist made contact with the wall causing it to crumble. Naruto hopped backwards to stop from falling into the cavern while Sasuke jumped down into the cavern landing in front of Sakura. Sakura jumped back away from Sasuke. Her angry green eyes stared him down as she looked for an opening.

"Hmm, looks like you have been training," said Sasuke. He reached behind him and began to pull his sword from his scabbard. He was in back of Sakura within a blink of an eye with the Kusanagi sword to her throat. "Though maybe not enough," he said as he sword began to draw blood. "Let's see if you are truly someone worth fighting," Sasuke said as he pulled the sword from her neck. Just to bring it back down at an alarming speed.

Sakura's screams could be heard throughout the cavern.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Shizune stood by in astonishment as she watched her aunt work on the paperwork. The dark haired woman wanted to ask why, but thought it was best not to stop progress. Shizune continued to stand silently by when a large cloud of smoke appeared in the office.

"Jiraiya has entered the building," the toad sage announced boisterously.

The sage turned his blinding smile on the two lady's in room. The first one Shizune had a look of disbelief on her face due to the nature of the man's entrance, and the second one Tsunade, began to grit her teeth in annoyance as she continued to pour over the paperwork. Jiraiya took a closer look at the two.

"Why does it seem like something's not right here," he began.

He looked to Shizune holding the pig ton ton.

"Nope, it isn't you," he said taking his attention from the young brunette.

He then turned his attention to Tsunade.

"No way hime, you're actually doing paperwork," he said barely ducking in time to miss a book that came whizzing pass his head.

With her eye twitching, she gave her attention to her former teammate.

"What do you want Jiraiya?" she said through clenched teeth.

"Oh just dropped by to say hi, and to confirm something," said Jiraiya.

"What is it Jiraiya," she said still angry.

"Is it true that team kakashi set off to get Naruto and the Uchiha?" said Jiraiya in a hopeful tone.

Tsunade allowed her features to soften, and she began to relax a little.

"Yes, I've sent them on a mission to retrieve them," she said with a strained smile.

"Really, well how did you…"said Jiraiya.

"Well it was from the last mission team kakashi had to complete," she said.

"The rescue of the Kazekage," said Jiraiya, "but how would that yield any information?" said Jiraiya.

"Well, I'd forgotten that you were out of the village when they returned with the news. So you wouldn't really have heard anything," she said motioning for him to sit down. Jiraiya took a seat in front of the Hokage's desk. "Well when Kakashi's team arrived, Gaara was sitting propped up against the tree.

"Huh?" said Jiraiya.

"Well it appears someone had beaten them to rescuing Gaara as well as taking out an Akatsuki member," said Tsunade.

"What does that have to do with Naruto?" said Jiraiya.

"Before Kakashi arrived to the scene, Pakkun was sent ahead and he recognized the sent as Naruto's, and not only that the Akatsuki member confirmed that it was a Jinchuuriki that attacked him, so Kakashi made sure to send his dog ahead to keep on the trail of the scent, which is how we were able to get the information," she finished.

Jiraiya sat there in shock taking in all of the information before he gathered his senses,

"Which Akatsuki member was killed?" he said slightly surprised.

"Sasori of the red sands, he was a missing Nin from the Sand village. Apparently, he was responsible for the death of the 4th Kazekage." She finished.

"Do you guys have any idea how he was taken down?" said Jiraiya in a serious tone.

"Well Suna managed to run some test on his corpse? He was a puppet by the way (she added hastily), and found most of his parts shattered.

"Okay. So he was beaten to death?" he said slowly.

"On the surface, yes it appeared that way, but when they checked his heart. They noticed something strange. It was as if he were poisoned. The chakra coils were destroyed on a molecular level. It's a surprise he managed to stay alive long enough to give the news to the team," she finished.

"So no one is really sure how he was killed? Said Jiraiya.

"No. They are still working on it, but as soon as they have any new info, they will tell us," said Tsunade.

"So Naruto may be responsible for this?" said Jiraiya with a grin threatening to take over his face.

"Yes," said Tsunade.

"At least he can take care of himself," Jiraiya whispered to himself, "so they are going to get him now?"

At that Tsunade's grin began to falter.

"What no faith?" said Jiraiya.

Shizune looked over to her aunt and noticed the depression that was starting to seep into Tsunades' features.

"What's going on hime?" said Jiraiya.

"She had a visit from the council members earlier today." Said Shizune.

"And what happened?" said Jiraiya.

Tsunade leveled her hazel eyes to the door.

"Let's just say that the council has made their opinion known."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Everything seemed to be in slow motion for Sakura.

She watched as the blade was drawn back from her neck and come back towards her. She began to scream as the blade returned, and closed her eyes tightly. She waited and waited finally realizing the blade hadn't cut her. She opened her eyes.

Sasuke looked at his wrist and down at his waist. The vine slowly began to wound around his wrist causing him to let go of his katana. Sakura took the opening and removed herself from Sasuke's grasp. Sasuke's sharingan eyes looked at his waist noticing the vine moving as well. It began to get tighter causing him to gasp for air. He looked to his side to see the other Jounin ninja Yamato holding his hand in a sign of seal. The wood vines that were coming from the ground seemed to be following the command of the dark haired man.

"Looks like you're trapped Sasuke, what will you do now?" said Kakashi.

Kakashi looked up to the top of the cavern. And noticed that Naruto hadn't moved an inch.

_'hm I wonder why he isn't moving?'_ Kakashi thought, _'why isn't he helping?'_

While Sasuke began to struggle to get rid of the vines, Sai also looked up to where the blonde Nin stood.

_'I have to bring him back,'_ Sai thought, _'I must follow orders.'_

Sai proceeded to pull out a medium sized scroll, and paint brush. He opened the scroll, and began to paint a large snake. He placed two fingers in front of him causing the snake to come alive, and slide it's way off the paper. The inky snake made its way from Sai and began to slide up the cavern wall. Sai watched as the snake began to wound around Naruto. Naruto looked down at the snake as it became a rope. His expression hadn't changed in the least bit. Said kept the same look on his face, but a began to feel a sense of accomplishment. The feeling didn't last long as he felt a spike of chakra and watched as the rope was turned into a puddle of ink. Sai's eyes began to widen astonishment. He looked over to Sasuke and noticed that the Nin stopped had stopped struggling, in fact, his attention was towards the ground.

"To think that I'd have to use this," Sasuke said as his sharingan began to spin wildly .

Everyone felt a sudden spike in chakra coming from Sasuke. A strange smirk appeared on his face.

"Chidori Nagashi!" he yelled as visible chakra in the form lightening seemed to come out from all over his body.

The Leaf ninja managed to evade the lightening attack in time. Yamato watched as the branches ,that held Sasuke, began to break from the attack. When the Nin was freed from his wooden binds, Sasuke jumped up to the top of the cliff to join his blonde teammate. The two stood side-by-side looking down at the shocked expressions on the Nin's faces. After the surprise cleared, it was then Kakashi spoke.

"So you managed to take my Chidori further," said Kakashi, "I wish I could say that I'm proud, but under the circumstances.." Kakashi kept his eyes on the two boys, "I will ask you one last time…come back, or …"

"Or what Kakashi," said another voice, " you will be forced to use your full strength," said a voice in a familiar hissing sound.

A man appeared in a flurry of leaves next to Sasuke, his long dark hair, and snake like features made him recognizable as Orochimaru. The purple and black clad man fixed his gold eyes of Kakashi.

"Orochimaru," Kakashi spoke through gritted teeth.

"Kakashi.." Orochimaru stopped his musings to look around, "I see you have brought some friends with you," he said until his eyes landing on Yamato. "Oh how amusing .., I see Konoha has made great use of my experiments." He said earning a shocked look from Sakura.

"So you're here to take them?" said Kakashi completely ignoring Orochimaru's last statement.

"Yes and No. These boys came of their own freewill, well Sasuke at least. Who was to know that he'd bring the Jinchuuriki along with him. That was just an added bonus." Orochimaru turned his attention to the spot besides Naruto where a silver haired young man wearing circular glasses appeared.

"Is everything ready Kabuto?" said Orochimaru.

"Yes Lord Orochimaru," said Kabuto.

Kakashi had to think quickly. He knew the white-faced man was about to escape again. The gleam in his golden eyes gave it away. He was about to enact a jutsu when..

"Why did you save him Naruto!?!" Sakura yelled from within the cavern. "If you're such a weapon, why did you save Gaara?

Her question went unanswered as the 4 men above disappeared in the form of flames.

"Not again!" Sakura said as she fell to her knees; the tears pouring freely down her face.

Kakashi's heart broke at the sight, while he noticed Sai taking a step toward Sakura. He bent down to her level, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Do not worry next time we will bring them back," he said with his usual smile that didn't seem as fake as the others.

Sakura glanced up at the dark haired male in astonishment, and a smile slowly made its way on her face.

"Thank you Sai," she said as he helped her to her feet. She turned her tear stained face from him, and began to clean herself up, and regain her composure. "Thank you for making me feeling better," she finished.

"I am happy to see that I did it right," said Sai.

"Huh?" said Yamato from the corner.

I read how to comfort someone in a book called _The Joys of Sensitivity_," Sai said with the fake smile returning.

"Sai you sure are a weird one," Sakura said with small smile.

"We need to get back to Konoha, and report this immediately," said Kakashi in a clipped tone.

"Yes." The team replied.

"She will not be happy with this outcome," Kakashi said to himself.

With that, the team regrouped and set off for Konoha.

XXXXXXXXXXX

It was 4 days later when team Kakashi found themselves in the presence of the Hokage. After breaking the news to Tsunade, she stood up and turned her attention out to the village. She stayed that way for a while, until she finally turned back to her subordinates. What they saw were glossy looking hazel eyes staring back at them.

"We are very sorry Lady Hokage, we tried everything we could," said Kakashi tiredly.

"No isn't just that," Tsunade responded in a depressed tone, "You are aware that I have not placed Naruto and Sasuke as missing Nins.. just as missing persons correct?" she finished staring directly at Kakashi.

"Yes I am aware. It was to make sure that they could be brought back to the village without facing any criminal charges or something worse," Kakashi finished in a thoughtful manner.

"That is correct. But while the 4 of you were out on the retrieval mission, I had a visit from the elders. I'm surprised that the two were able to keep quiet on this so long. I'm sure it must've caused them great pains. Well the old bats came to "suggest" that the two should be listed as missing Nins. In their words:

Flashback

"We have been more than generous Tsunade regarding this situation," Homura spoke from his seat in front of the Hokage's desk, "any other missing nin who had committed the same crime as the Uchiha would have been placed as a missing nin," he finished.

"You're correct, and I have no problem with what you are saying, but even I will admit that the Uchiha was brain washed by Orochimaru and shouldn't be punished severely, and as far as Naruto is concerned.."

"…We will put under lock and key and his ninja status stricken upon his arrival in the village," said Homura in a calm voice.

"…But you don't have the authority, that power still resides with me, and I will not allow you to take away his freedom. Especially seeing as he had no say in what happened to him," said Tsunade heatedly.

"We cannot allow him to roam about as he wishes. The boy is a jinchuuriki, and if that power falls into the hands of our enemy's. This village is in trouble, we have been lucky that Orochimaru hasn't decided to use the boy against us, but knowing him it will be soon," Homura replied calmly.

Koharu sat and watched as the two argued back and forth, well more like the hokage yelling while Homura replied calmly. He was always the cool headed one of the their team, but as much as Homura spoke in an authoritative manner, it didn't matter because the fiery tempered woman was right that power still resided with her and the only way it could be vetoed was through the clan heads, and who had time to be bothered with that.

"How about a compromise," said Koharu stopping the next words from coming out of Tsunade's mouth, "we agree that the boy's have left the village, but for different reasons," she spoke calmly. "If team Kakashi is able to retrieve the missing nins and they come back willingly. Then we will allow them to return to the village on a probationary period of a bout a year and they will be able to return to their normal lives, however, if they do not return they will be listed as missing nin and if they ever return to this village, they will face the full force of the law. Agreed ?" Koharu finished.

Tsunade thought over the proposal, it was a pretty food compromise granted if they returned. It was far better than Homura's.

"Agreed," Tsunade answered hesitantly.

"Very good," said Koharu. She nodded to Homura and the two got up and left the office.

_'I hope they are able to bring them back but if they don't..'_ she thought.

"I need to get my mind off this," she said sitting down beginning her paperwork.

End Flashback

"So we truly have failed," said Yamato.

"No.. no one could have foreseen this," said Tsunade.

She stared at the weathered team for a bit before dismissing them. Kakashi stayed behind knowing the Hokage wanted to speak to him alone.

"So how was he?" said Tsunade.

"He looks more and more like his father," said Kakashi.

"That's good, but I meant mentally," she finished nervously.

"Not himself, almost lifeless, but there was something else that I couldn't put my finger on," said Kakashi.

"What is it?" said Tsunade.

"I'm not sure, but I'm sure we will find out soon enough," Kakashi finished before bowing, and leaving in a flurry of leaves, leaving Tsunade feeling puzzled.

XXXXXXXXXXX

A group of men lay sprawled out in the middle of a field. In the midst of the unconscious men stood a dark haired young man with his sword drawn. His golden haired companion sat upon the ground watching the event with a strange look in his blue eyes. While their leader, the snake like man praised Sasuke and, smiled a hungry smile in anticipation of his new vessel, and his weapon. Orochimaru's thoughts strayed to the blonde. Unbeknownst to the teens, he heard the final words of their ex-pink haired teammate.

'_So Naruto saved the Kazekage, I will put that bit of information away for later. Let him believe I have no such knowledge of the event, and then I shall catch him off guard. Then again as long as Sasuke is around, and remains loyal to me, he will stay loyal, and Sasuke's thirst for revenge and power keeps him tied_ _to me. So whatever the boy is planning will ultimately fail,'_ Orochimaru thought to himself, the same smile growing wider with each thought.

XXXXXXXXX

Deidara sat still as Kakuzu stitched his torn arm back together. All the while he remembered the events that led up to the loss of his arm. His blue eye narrowed in anger.

"I will get him for this," he muttered under his breath, "him and the Uchiha brat," he finished as a smile began to make its way on his face. "I can kill two birds with one stone," he finished uncovering his other eye from beneath his blonde bangs.

_____________________________________________________________

A/N: again sorry for the delay.

A/N Rants: has anyone noticed that before a character dies, they have a flashback, but kakashi technically didn't have one, but then again Hinata did have one, and she lived. Oh great now I'm confused! Please don't let Kakashi be dead.


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for the reviews folks

Yes I know I'm late, but for some reason it's been really hard to write for naruto, but I am soo going to finish this story. Anyhow I got my wish, Kakashi's alive, as is Hinata.

Well on to the story.

Warning: another bad fighting scene up ahead, and chapter is shorter than others.

Don't own naruto

________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 7

Kakuzu chuckled at the expression on the blonde Akatsuki's face. He was pissed one moment, and was laughing maniacally the next.

'Well.. whoever said being sane was a requirement to join Akatsuki, Kakuzu thought.

"So, Deidara, I guess the kyuubi is as good as dead?" said Kakuzu snapping the blonde out of his thoughts.

The two nins sat across from each other as Deidara's right arm was being sown back together by Kakuzu. The two men were seated in what appeared to be an abandoned inn.

"Yes," said Deidara through clenched teeth, "how much longer will this take," he said motioning to his arm.

"If you want it done right, it will be whenever I am finished," Kakuzu said as he continued his work.

The two sat in silence while Kakuzu continued to sew. It was a few minutes later when Kakuzu voiced his thoughts.

"Pein-sama will not allow you," said Kakuzu as another stitch made its way into Deidara's arm, "you know what the boy contains; the leader will see you dead before the boy," Kakuzu said finished.

Deidara let out a frustrated breath knowing what Kakuzu said was true.

"Well.. I can always torture him until he begs for death, you'd be surprised what the human body can live through," Deidara said nonchalantly.

Deidara became very quiet after his last statement as he began to remember what led to his arm being ripped off. He grit his teeth in anger as his mind drifted back to the fight.

Flashback

_A Loud thundering sound was heard inside by the Akatsuki members._

_"What the hell is that?" said Hidan's hologram form._

_"Seems like someone wants to join the party," said Kisame as he kept his concentration on drawing the ichibi's chakra out of the kazekage._

_"Hmm, maybe someone to try to retrieve the Jinchuuriki," said Itachi._

_"Ignore it and concentrate on the task at hand," said their leader as his hologram continued with the sealing._

_The group of 8-outlawed Nins continued their work in the dank semi-dark cave. The only light seemed to be coming from a giant statue that was in the shape of a hand, and the aura of Gaara's chakra. The group watched as the last part of the Ichibi's aura painfully left the kazekage. The screaming came to an abrupt halt as the kazekage's body dropped to the ground. The cave was rocked with another explosion that caused the cave to be filled with a thick cloud of dust and debris. Within its shadows a figure stood. _

_"If you are with Suna," said Pein, "then you are too late."_

_The smoke cleared showing a teenaged boy with chin length spiky blonde hair standing there. The young boys light purple tunic blew behind him in the wind as the boy stared in at the scene. The boy's blue eyes were focused on the body of the kazekage lying there unmoving. He turned his face towards the members his eyes staring coldly._

_"Hmm," said Pein recognizing the face of the Nin, "the nine-tail has come so willingly to us. Saving us the trouble of looking for him, and that traitorous snake," Pein finished._

_"Lord Jashin must be on our side to grant such a gift," said the Hologram of Hidan._

_The vessel looked to the Nins with a cold look, as he drew his sword from the sheath on his back._

_"Give him up, and you may live," he spoke in a cold tone._

_"A child telling giving us orders?" said a large man with thinly spiked hair and a handkerchief covering the bottom half of his face, "how comical."_

_The blonde Nin growled lowly at the remark and began to make his way towards the group._

_"Capture him, alive," said Pein as his hologram began to fade out._

_Sasori looked on as the boy came charging towards him. He turned his body facing him as his tail began to strike at him in every direction. The blonde made sure to dodge each and everyone of them. What appeared to be a small bird came towards him, he paid no mind to it before exploded near him. _

_"I was so close too hmm," said Deidara as he watched the boy back flip away from it. The 3 stood in a stand still._

_The two men waited for the boy to do something. It was then the boy began to run towards them. He swung his sword at them sending a powerful gust of wind at them. The bigger of the two seemed to withstand it, while Deidara was able to move in time with the aid of a giant paper bird. The Akatsuki members watched as the wind cut up most of the cave wall before the holograms flickered out of existence. The jinchuuriki used the opportunity to run and make a grab for the redhead. Deidara noticing the boy's true intention sent 3 paper birds towards the Nin and detonated them. A large smoke cloud appeared and when it cleared, the boy was surrounded by what appeared to be wind, and was unscathed. _

_"I guess he has some skill," said Sasori._

_"This should be fun," said Deidara who was flying above the scene eyeing the kazekage's body._

_Deidara looked to naruto and saw the boy staring at the body of the kazekage._

_"So you're after the body of the Ichibi container, hmm," said Deidara, "it's pointless he's already dead," he finished._

_Deidara's words seemed to enrage the jinchuuriki. Naruto narrowed his blue eyes at the blonde Akatsuki member. Naruto grabbed his weapon and made another go at them. Deidara looked on the scene in amusement while Sasori watched the boy for any openings. Naruto threw his sword aiming for the blonde Nin. Deidara stepped out of the way as the sword approached. He watched as it went passed him and looked at Naruto"did you really think," he stopped talking when he felt a sword at his neck. He turned his head to the side to see an exact replica of the jinchuuriki standing behind him. The Naruto on the ground created another clone and sent it for gaara's body, but it was stopped as Sasori flung his tail at him, which caused the clone to disappear. Unfortunately, the tail still made impact with the real Naruto sending him flying into the cave wall. Deidara laughed as his clone turned into clay, and the clone Naruto stood there in shock before he was stabbed by a kunai in the back and poofed out of existence. Deidara stood atop his bird twirling a kunai in his hand. The two Nins watched as naruto dusted himself off and stood up his sword still in hand. _

_"That's right, how foolish of me" said Deidara looking down at the boy, "I'd forgotten kagebushin is your signature move," Deidara and sasori looked around the cave. It was a stalemate._

_Deidara's eyes looked down at the body of the Kazekage, and then turned his attention to the boy. _

_"Let's see how badly you want him," said Deidara as he lowered the giant paper bird to gather the redhead's body._

_Sasori stepped in the pathway, "there is nothing you can do," said sasori, "you're trapped," and to make his point Deidara flew towards the exit with the kazekage's body._

_Naruto heard Deidara's laughter as he made his way towards the exit. He looked on as sasori stood in his pathway. Naruto looked on at sasori before he quickly pulled out two black globes. He threw the smoke bombs causing the area to be filled with a thick smoke. A loud poof sound could be heard. When the smoke cleared there were 10 clones present. Sasori beady eyes roved around the area. The naruto clones all charged towards the Nin. Sasori's tail managed to take out 4 of them, but 5 made it through the exit leaving sasori with 1._

_Deidara looked down below and saw 4 clones of the jinchuuriki following him._

"_I wonder which one is the real one, hmm," he said with a gleeful smile._

_Deidara looked down from his bird as he began to create new bombs. When he finished, he threw them down and detonated them. The birds exploded leaving only 2 narutos standing. The 2 narutos glared at the Nin as he began to cackle. _

"_You're quite an entertaining jinchuuriki," he said looking down on him, "but my art will take you out with a," he paused as he brought two fingers in front of his face, "bang!"_

_What appeared to be stark white flowers that lay upon certain branches exploded causing smoke and debris to fill the area. The area was filled with laughter as the smoke cleared and none of the Naruto clones were present._

"_I suppose the real one is still with sasori," he said, "I wonder if it did any damage to the original," he thought aloud._

_Deidara had to quickly move his bird out of the way when he felt a powerful gust of wind. When he looked to the direction it came from, he noticed the jinchuuriki was standing there. _

_Deidara looked the boy in his eyes, "aren't we clever," he finished, "but this fight will be finished, and you will be in the same shape as your friend here, hmm," he finished._

_The jinchuuriki gritted his teeth as he looked at the Nin, " you will give him to me," said Naruto._

_Deidara just stared at the boy challenging him._

_Naruto moved into a fighting stance with his sword pointing forward. He then bought it back to his side as if he were about to swing something his way. The sword grew blue as chakra was being channeled into the weapon. He closed his eyes as he began to focus. Deidara focused on the boy._

"_Whatever it is you're trying to do it won't work," Deidara smiled mockingly. His smile began to falter as he felt the air shift. _

_When it seemed the boy was finished, his blue eyes snapped open._

"_Kaze no mai," he said as a strong gust of wind was released from the sword. The chakra-laced wind began to slice the bird into pieces as it slashed the bird to pieces. Deidara let out a yell as the wind took off his right arm. The arm fell towards the ground with gaara's body. The jinchuuriki made a clone that ran after and caught gaara's body before it touched the ground the clone took the body to a nearby tree and pressed it's hands on to the body. The other Naruto's attention was on the Akatsuki Nin who was holding his stub of an arm. The blood was soaking through the sleeve of the cloak._

"_You," said Deidara his aquamarine eyes glaring maniacally at the boy. He held his stump of an arm a little closer and hissed in pain, "I'm not supposed to kill you, hmm," Deidara said staring wildly at the boy, "well to hell with them!!" he yelled to the astonishment of the boy. _

_He pulled the clay out of his bag and began to chew it and held his fingers in front of his face._

"_I will show you to not disrespect my art," he said crazily, "too bad neither of us will be around to enjoy it," he said as his body began to expand in width, "Katsu!!" he shouted. the entire area was engulfed in flames. Deidara saw as the naruto that stood in front of him poofed out of existence. _

"_So this entire time it was clone," he said before he disappeared underground._

_When Deidara reemerged from the ground. There was nothing standing not even a tree._

"_A clone," said Deidara, "I was nearly defeated by a clone," he finished._

"_I hope for his sake that Sasori-Dono takes care of him," he said aloud. He looked down at his stump of an arm, "if not, I will have to break my oath and destroy him," he finished before he left the scene._

End flashback

Deidara once again began to grit his teeth.

Kakuzu finished the last stitch, "I'm finished, so you can stop your fuming," he said as he began to get up out of his seat.

"About time," said Deidara as he clenched the hand of his reattached arm.

"You're welcome," Kakuzu said as he put on his Akatsuki robe.

"Hmm," said Deidara as he also put on his robe.

Kakuzu gave the Nin a flat look before turning to the door.

"I have to find Hidan, you do know the meeting place," said Kakuzu.

"Yes," said Deidara.

"Good," he said as he opened the door, " see you in a couple of days," he said as the door closed behind him leaving the blonde to himself.

XXXXXXX

"Such words Sai," said Danzou as leaned on his cane, "So you wish to keep your name, and to stay with team Kakashi?

"Yes Danzou-sama," replied Sai in a flat tone.

Danzou stared down at the bowed head of his subordinate, "emotions breed dissent Sai just remember that," Danzou turned from the boy and made his way across the bridged. The two people were in a darkened building. There was no one else around to interfere with the meeting.

"Thank you Danzou-sama," sai said with one of his plastic smiles.

XXXXXXXX

The pink haired girl stared down into a bowl of miso ramen. She sat alone at the counter of Ichiraku's. A dark haired young man soon joined the silent staring. After staring at the bowl, he decided to speak up.

"So what are we looking for?" said Sai in a puzzled tone.

"Oh Sai," she said in a surprised tone, "I didn't even hear you sit down," she said with a hand to heart.

"But aren't you a ninja?" he said in a serious tone.

Sakura got a grip on her anger before she thought to knock the boy through the wall.

"I was just thinking that this was Naruto's favorite ramen..," said Sakura, "then again he seemed to like all ramen," she finished with a sad smile.

Sai didn't answer her, but she could tell he was listening.

"What are we going to do?" she said a loud in a depressed tone, "they both seemed so los..-"

"Hey Sakura, Sai," said a guy with a spiky ponytail.

Sai slightly bowed his head to the chunnin as sakura returned the greeting and offered him a seat.

Shikamaru took the seat on the other side of Sakura. The 3 sat in silence as more and more of their teammates seemed to crowd into the building. The rookie 9 all sat in silence at the counter until one decided to speak.

"So how were they?" asked Kiba.

Everyone looked up at the boy all silently thanking him for asking.

"Lost," said Sakura. Everyone had strained expression on their face, " Sasuke's hatred for his brother has clouded his judgment to the point where he wants Orochimaru to take over his body. While Naruto," Sakura stopped as a tear made its way down her cheek.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Hinata. While Neji looked on in apprehension.

"He's been brainwashed, it was almost like he was a puppet. Spouting the words of his master," Sakura said in an angry whisper, "It wasn't even him. He seemed so.. Broken," she finished as she wiped the tears from her face. After Sakura cleaned her face she begin to describe team Kakashi's run in with the two missing leaf ninjas to the rookie 9.

Shikamaru's mind began to run as he listened to Sakura's description of the two missing Nins, and the fight that ensued between them. From what he gathered there was something off with the situation.

"He just stood there saying things that I know the real Naruto would never.." she broke off in another sessions of sobs.

"Hm." Shikamaru said aloud, "I wonder if they were holding back," he finished.

Everyone turned their attention to the chunnin.

"What?" said Kiba.

The retrieval of the Kazekage," he said simply.

"What about it?" said Chouji.

"Why not let him die? Why go through the trouble of fighting two wanted criminals just to save the kazekage?" Shikamaru looked seemed to stare into everyone's eyes, "If he really is for Orochimaru and Sasuke why not just walk away from the situation after the Akatsuki managed to take the Ichibi?"

Everyone sat in thought, and waited for the genius Nin to say something else.

"From what I understand, Naruto was the who took out the missing Suna Nin Sasori of the red sands. If he was able to defeat him, why not strike against you all, and from the way Sasuke was fighting. It seems more like he was testing his strength. If you ask me he was sparring," Shikamaru gave a sigh, "It just feels like something is off." Shikamaru gave a final look to everyone before laying some money on the counter and leaving the restaurant while the minds of his fellow ninjas went into overdrive.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Why am I here? Who am I?"

Gaara awoke from the dream. The dream had been hunting him since his near death at the hands of the Akatsuki.

"Maybe I really did die," he said aloud to no one. Gaara was sitting straight up in his bed. He got out of bed and walked over to the large window. He stared at the moon that seemed to be much bigger that night. "Was I dead?" he said talking to the moon, "I feel as if I might have" he then brought hands over his chest, "I know I was, then how did he do it? Why did he do it? If Uzumaki really has gone into the darkness then how was he able to pull me from it," gaara finished and just looked into the calming night sky and watched the stars fly across the sky.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke made his way down a candlelit hallway. It had been weeks since the 4 of them made their escape to the new hideout. Everything had calmed down, and training resumed. He went down the row of doors looking for the one that held his surrogate brother. The screams of a desperate man could be heard throughout the building. Sasuke continued his track down the hall ignoring the screams. He came to the last door on the left, and opened the door to find a blonde examining his unbandaged right arm.

"Hey idiot," said Sasuke, "you ready."

The blonde turned his attention to the dark haired male.

"Who you calling idiot, loser," he said before a smile made its way on to his whiskered face, " I've been ready," he finished.

Naruto got up and grabbed the sword from his bed before he made his way out following Sasuke from within the dark room.

* * *

A/N: hope that didn't hurt too much, and thanks for reading, and I'm sure some of Naruto's moves were familiar.

A/N: not sure if this counts as a rant, but apparently Disney XD will be showing naruto shippuuden. I'm a little scared. Bring back toonami cartoon network!!!!


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